Trump friend Chris Ruddy of West Palm Beach criticizes Priebus

Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy, a West Palm Beach resident and Mar-a-Lago Club member who spent time with President Donald Trump over the weekend, told CNN on Sunday that Trump isn’t being well-served by White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

But Ruddy seemed to walk back the criticism later Sunday, tweeting that he had an “open mind” after being briefed by Priebus and adding that Trump son-in-law and confidant Jared Kushner told him Priebus is doing an “amazing job.”

“I think there’s a lot of weakness coming out of the chief of staff,” Ruddy told CNN’s Brian Stelter.

“I think Reince Priebus, good guy, well intentioned, but he clearly doesn’t know how the federal agencies work, he doesn’t have a really good system. He doesn’t know how the communications flow,” Ruddy said. “I think Sean Spicer’s doing a very good job under difficult circumstances, but I do think the president is not getting the back-up he needs in the operation of the White House and sometimes the pushback that he needs, which you would have with a stronger…chief of staff.”